


I Know That Lonely Smile

by ambrolen



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Modern AU, Short One Shot, brief mention of anders/female hawke, brief mention of f/m
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 14:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12728736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambrolen/pseuds/ambrolen
Summary: From a prompt: "You got stood up on your date so I pretended to be them”





	I Know That Lonely Smile

Forty-five minutes. That’s how long Anders had been sitting alone at a booth with two empty glasses of wine, waiting to be filled, and a single rose resting in the middle of the table.

Since Anders had arrived fifteen minutes early, it meant his date was only half an hour late, but it was still an entire forty-five minutes of his waiter and various diners (some who had already eaten and left), glancing at him and giving him looks with ever-increasing amounts of pity.

Anders sighed and ruffled his dirty blonde hair, allowing some strands to fall lose from his hair tie. Another fifteen minutes and he’d leave. Just drop a few dollars on the table to thank the waiter for keeping an eye on him, and apologize for hoarding a booth, and walk out with as little drama as possible.

Minutes ticked by and Anders was beginning to rustle through his wallet for the tip when someone slipped into the booth across from him.

“Sorry I’m late,” said the man, his voice gruff but not unpleasant. 

Anders stared at the man blankly. “I’m sorry, who are–?”

“I know, it’s the second time this week,” the man interrupted. “But Charles got out again, and you know how stubborn he can be.”

Anders was baffled. “Charles?”

The man waved the waiter over. “You know, Charles, my tabby cat.”

“O-of course.”

The waiter looked at the two of them and smiled, obviously resisting remarking on what he assumed was an awkward situation, just for entirely different reasons. “Are you two ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll have your grilled salmon special.”

The waiter turned to Anders. “The, uh, chicken alfredo.”

“And the wine?” the waiter asked.

Anders glanced over at the stranger. “I was going to order a riesling…”

The man scrunched up his nose for the briefest of seconds. “Well, then, sir, please give us a bottle of your best… riesling…”

The waiter nodded. “I’ll be back momentarily.”

As soon as the waiter was out of earshot, Anders asked, “So who are you?”

For the first time since Anders saw him, the man seemed flustered. “My apologies, my name is Fenris. I walked by the restaurant a couple of times and heard the staff talking about you. When I finally walked in and saw you sitting here… Well,” Fenris drew a hand through his messy white hair. He looked at Anders, brilliant green eyes meeting soft honey. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”

 

Anders broke away first, his cheeks warming. He cleared his throat. “Thanks. I’m, uh. My name is Anders.” He held his hand out to Fenris for a handshake, but instead the man grabbed it in both of his own.

“It won’t happen again, I swear it,” Fenris said earnestly.

Anders was only confused for a heartbeat before their waiter poured the wine they had ordered and left the bottle in a bucket of ice on the table. “Enjoy,” he said with a smile and small bow.

Anders hardly noticed their server’s departure. He was entirely too focussed on the rough, tan hands that were still clutching his own. He hadn’t noticed before, but pale tattoos wormed their way up Fenris’s hands and arms and down his neck into the depths hidden by his button down shirt. Anders’s hand was warm in Fenris’s and he had the sudden awful realization it was probably due to claminess. Anders couldn’t stop his arm from jerking back a bit at the thought and Fenris released his hand to the cold air at the response.

“Sorry,” they both murmured at once.

There was an awkward silence.

“Who were you supposed to be meeting?” Fenris asked.

“My, uh…” Anders trailed off.

“I don’t mean to pry; I understand if it’s too personal.”

Anders cleared his throat. “No, sorry. I’m just not sure what to call her. We were dating, and then we weren’t. We were talking, and then we weren’t. A week goes by in silence then she texts me, apologizing, and asks to meet me here.” Anders fiddles with the rose subconsciously. “I knew it wouldn’t work out between us, no matter how today went, but I had hoped…” He sighed and leaned back into the booth.

Fenris had unknowingly tensed at “her” and even more during the explanation of what could possibly still be a still active relationship. His fingers were pressed into the table, their tips turning white, as though he were preparing to launch himself out of the booth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize… I believe I misread the situation. I should probably…”

He began to stand but Anders grabbed his wrist. “Don’t.”

Fenris froze, half standing, and stared at Anders.

Anders let his hand drop from Fenris’s wrist and to his hand, his slender fingers gently tracing the spiraling tattoos. “I mean, please stay, if you don’t mind.” His eyes locked with Fenris’s and he suddenly grinned, almost impishly. “I could use the company of someone as handsome as yourself to lift my spirits.”

Fenris dropped back into his seat, a light laugh escaping his lips before it was covered by a cough. “If you insist, Anders, though you needn’t weaponize your charm to get me to stay.”

Anders laughed in a way that healed the soul. Head tilted back, mouth in a wide smile that reached from his eyes to his toes. He relaxed in his seat, his arm draped over the back of the booth. “That, dear Fenris, was nowhere near my weaponized charm.”

 

Before Fenris had a chance to react, their waiter came back with their meals.

They ate between tales of misadventures and laughs. They sipped their glasses of wine with a grimace (”She’s the one who likes rieslings, not me!” Anders explained), but both bore ruddy cheeks and constant smiles from the buzz. Well, Anders smiled. What Fenris did could more be described as a smirk and -oh!- how Anders’s heart leapt when he caused those lips to twitch up, ever so slightly.

“There is no way that happened!” Anders laughed.

“It’s true,” Fenris insisted. “I have no idea how he did it, but I now have more spoons than I know what to do with.”

“Give them to the needy?” Anders suggested.

Fenris pondered that. “Is there an organization specifically for giving cutlery to the poor, or should I just give every homeless person I see a handful of spoons?”

“Make your own organization of course!”

Fenris smirked. “Of course.”

Before they knew it, the wine was long gone and their buzz slowly fading. Their waiter was handing them the check. “No rush,” he said as he cleared away their plates. But there was a sudden pressure on the pair.

Anders reached for the bill, suddenly unsure of how to proceed, but Fenris quickly grabbed it. “It’s… The least I could do. For forcing my company upon you.”

Anders rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in (mostly) mock exasperation. “Forcing…? Fenris, you’ve been an absolute delight. If it weren’t for you, I’d be sitting at home brooding over life’s misfortunes right now.”

Fenris chuckled, low and rolling from his chest. Anders’s ears reddenned. “I have been known to fall into such moments myself. That’s really why I couldn’t bare to let you sit here on your own, looking as sad as an abandoned puppy. That is also why I will be paying, unless it truly troubles you.”

Anders sighed wit ha smile. “No, no. To be quite honest, this place was a little pricier than I thought it would be. I’m not a man too prideful to turn down a free meal.”

“Then it’s settled.” Fenris counted out some cash from his wallet and left a wad of it on the table. He then stood and held out his hand to Anders. “Shall we?”

Anders stood and hesitated, eyeing the cash on the table, trying to count up the bills.

“Do not worry, I made sure to tip well.”

Relieved and slightly curious how Fenris knew what he had been concerned about, Anders placed his hand in Fenris’s with a smile and followed him out the restaurant.

“I parked over here,” Anders said, gesturing as they exited the building.

“Lead the way.”

They walked in silence that Anders hoped wasn’t awkward, but a tightness was growing in his chest with each step. When the pair reached his car, he turned and faced Fenris and grabbed his other hand.

“Listen, Fenris, I had a great time, and it really is done between Marian and I, so I was wondering, if, maybe, you would want to–”

Fenris tugged Anders forward and caught the man’s mouth with his own. His kiss was gentle but insistent. Then he broke away, and Anders saw his face was flushed.

Anders smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes, then?”

“I am not certain how more obviously I could put it,” Fenris said dryly.

“Well…” Anders said, releasing Fenris’s hands to open his car door. He reached in and dug around the passenger side floorboard for a moment before emerging with a scrap of paper and a pen. “Here is my number,” he said as he wrote. He folded it up and wrote “ANDERS” on the front in all caps, as though Fenris would be able to forget the man, and doodled some hearts around his name. He handed Fenris the note when he was done. “You had better text me, then. I’m free all weekend.”

Fenris took the note. “I am as well.”

“Good, then planning won’t be an issue.” Anders smiled, then kissed the man on one of his still pink cheeks.Then he got into his car, waited for Fenris to step back, then waved as he drove off.

Fenris began his walk back home, wondering just how soon was too soon to schedule a real date with that beautiful and charming man.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted in multiple parts on Tumblr, so if the pacing seemed off, that's why


End file.
